Committee of the Whole

200 South Hamilton Road City of Gahanna Gahanna, Ohio 43230 Meeting Minutes Committee of the Whole Merisa K. Bowers, Chair Karen J. Angelou Nancy R. McGregor Kaylee Padova Stephen A. Renner Michael Schnetzer Trenton I. Weaver Jeremy VanMeter, Clerk of Council Monday, March 28, 2022 7:00 PM City Hall, Council Chambers A. CALL TO ORDER Vice President of Council Merisa Bowers, Chair, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. There were no additions or amendments to the agenda. All members were present for the meeting. B. DISCUSSIONS Boards & Commission Vacancies Vice President Bowers noted that there were no pending applications for either position. The purpose of the agenda item was to make Council aware of the vacancies and to encourage people to apply as it will also be posted on the City Council page on the website. Clerk VanMeter noted that the CRA Housing Council meets once per year in the fall and that in his conversation with Finance Director Joann Bury, a Council appointee for the Local Board of Tax Review is needed, as this is a stator requirement. President Renner asked when the Local Board of Tax Review meets. Mayor Jadwin said that board meets as needed for any appeal that might arise. Bowers noted that the OnBoard application system is live and asked Council colleagues to direct people to this system to apply for the vacancies. Council Member Angelou clarified with Mr. VanMeter on the Local Board of Tax Review vacancy that the opening is for a resident appointed by the Council. Council Member Weaver asked whether there was a deadline for filling the vacant seats. Bowers expressed that the hope is to have them filled as soon as possible and at the Council President’s discretion schedule a review of applications in Executive Session. Council Member McGregor asked whether a deadline of two or three weeks should be publicized. Bowers said it would depend on what applications come in to consider. President Renner stressed that it sounded like the Council needed someone as soon as possible for the Local Board of Tax Review. City of Gahanna Page 1 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes March 28, 2022 1. Local Board of Tax Review (1) Term ending 12/31/2023 2. Community Reinvestment Area Housing Council (1) Term ending 12/31/2022 C. ITEMS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING ORD-0015-2022 AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND ORD-0107-2020 OF THE CITY OF GAHANNA, FRANKLIN COUNTY, OHIO: REPEALING AND REPLACING CHAPTER 780 CODE FOR RENTAL PROPERTY REGISTRATION AND INSPECTION, WAIVING SECOND READING AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY Michael Blackford, Director of Planning, spoke on the need to address some code changes on the rental program. Specifically, he noted that the following would assist in implementation: 1) creating an exemption for dwellings occupied by family members and not for rent, 2) change the registration from biannual to biennial, and 3) align the appeal period to 30 days. So that the proposed changes take effect with this registration period, Director Blackford requested a waiver and emergency adoption on the proposed Ordinance. Vice President Bowers expressed her appreciation for the Department’s responsiveness in identifying some issues that have come up with the implementation of the policy. Recommendation: Introduction/First Reading/Waive Second Reading/Adopt as Emergency on Regular Agenda 4/4/2022. D. ITEMS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE & ENGINEERING ORD-0016-2022 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO CONTRACT WITH STRAWSER PAVING COMPANY, INC., FOR THE 2022 RESIDENTIAL STREET PROGRAM ST-1090 Grant Crawford, Director of Public Service & Engineering, addressed a request to enter a contract for the 2022 Street Program. He stated that within the City’s pavement maintenance program the City first performs a pavement condition rating of every street in the city. Each street is then identified in terms of whether resurfacing, patching, crack sealing or complete reconstruction is warranted. Next, the City generates quantities for lineal feet of curb, square yards of asphalt, gallons of tack, etc. for the bid. Once this information is identified, the Department presents it to Council and requests permission to bid. Council approved permission to bid back in February. The bid was publicly advertised for two weeks. Bids were opened on March 18, 2022. Staff reviewed the bid submissions for any errors or omissions and completeness and assessed whether the bid was responsive and responsible bid as required by Gahanna City Code and Ohio Revised Code. City of Gahanna Page 2 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes March 28, 2022 The responsive and responsible bidders for this year were Strawser Paving and Decker Construction. The Department requested award of the contract to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, Strawser Paving. Council Member McGregor asked about the breakdown of dollar amounts that looked like they came from the same fund. John Moorehead, City Engineer, explained that one of the amounts was rebuild dollars provided from capital and the other is the overlay dollars, which were separate line items. Crawford said he would doublecheck whether they come from the same fund. He stated Council has already appropriated the funds in the yearly budget process. Council Member Angelou confirmed with Crawford that Strawser Paving did work for the City last year. She asked whether there were some issues with them, as she recalled there had been some things that had gone wrong. Crawford responded that with any construction contract there are some sort of challenge, concern, or issue. Crawford reviewed the process for inspecting and ensuring work is conforming to standards and specifications. Angelou said she also received feedback from a resident on how wonderful the street work was. Angelou said her question was to make sure there was nothing beyond the regular things that might occur in the process. Council Member Weaver followed up by stating he was aware of constituent concerns that had been raised with some curbs crumbling due to “honeycombing”. He asked whether the City inspections and reviews have led to complaints being addressed at specific locations. Moorehead responded by describing what honeycombing was - when concrete is poured, and voids exist where air bubbles exist in the concrete that resembles a honeycomb-like structure. Moorehead added that the City inspected some curbs with this issue and Strawser removed them and repoured them using appropriate methods. Recommendation: Introduction/First Reading 4/4/2022/Regular Agenda E. ITEMS FROM THE COUNCIL OFFICE RES-0011-2022 A RESOLUTION AFFIRMING THE CITY OF GAHANNA'S COMMITMENT TO ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION AND RECOGNIZING APRIL 22, 2022, AS EARTH DAY Vice President Bowers reminded Council of the schedule of Resolutions outlined earlier in the year. Mr. VanMeter put together a brief Resolution draft for Council to consider based on MORPC-modeled language. Bowers asked for discussion. Council Member McGregor distributed a draft Resolution that she crafted for Affirming the City of Gahanna’s Commitment to Protect our Natural Resources and Recognizing April 22, 2022, as Earth Day. McGregor said that she thought of Earth Day as recognizing efforts more on a local level. For Gahanna, this includes 750 acres of park land and trails. She stressed using the Resolution as an opportunity to showcase what the City has done to protect natural resources and applaud the work that others have done in this effort. Council Member Angelou offered doing separate resolutions: 1) dealing with recognizing Earth Day and 2) the commitment to goals of MORPC’s sustainability agenda. Angelou cited anecdotally the fire on City of Gahanna Page 3 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes March 28, 2022 the Cuyahoga River that had occurred in the 1960s as an example of what kind of planet people did not want. McGregor offered that everybody wants clean air and clean water to drink. McGregor said the current draft seemed to be more national focused and not necessarily recognizing local efforts. Angelou said that she agreed with focusing on what we are doing locally and added that for the first time ever we had good air quality for 2021, which is quite an achievement. Angelou asked Mayor Jadwin about the availability of electric vehicle ports in the city. Jadwin confirmed there were six stations throughout the city, including two at City Hall. Angelou said this fit into sustainability goals. Jadwin added that MORPC has a regional development plan with regard to EV charging stations. President Renner said that he enjoyed the items proposed by McGregor on the trails and parkland and emphasis on natural resources. He said he had no problem combining the two ideas. He added that in his view climate action is not just a national or state issue but also a local issue and that residents can take action to help their carbon footprint in a multitude of ways. Renner said he was fine with combining the two into one Resolution. Angelou said she was ok with putting them both together or having two. Bowers offered doing one Resolution on April 4, 2022, and the other on April 28, 2022. Council Member Schnetzer said he agreed with Renner in doing one Resolution that included recognizing Earth Day and talking about the things the City has done and endeavors to do in the future. Schnetzer proposed changing reference to alternative fuel vehicles to a “diversity of transportation,” which would include things like bus lines and rail systems. Also, he proposed language incorporating the City’s land use document to change the phrasing of affordable housing options to “diverse housing stock.” Mayor Jadwin said there is an internal sustainability task force that is getting to the point of public engagement and administration will be rolling out sustainability initiative plans for the week of Earth Day. Jadwin proposed that if the Council desired to incorporate both ideas into one Resolution and consider again at the next Committee of the Whole, this would time very nicely with these plans. Jadwin added that the City has been named a Tree City again and the City’s certified arboretum also fit into the idea of conservation and Earth Day. Angelou also mentioned the City’s pollinator efforts. McGregor indicated that she was willing to add her draft language to the existing draft Resolution. Bowers requested Mr. VanMeter incorporate Mr. Schnetzer’s ideas and points shared by Mayor Jadwin. McGregor offered to assist. Jadwin suggested looking at the Proclamation that she did last year on Gahanna-specific details. Recommendation: Back to Committee on 4/11/22/ Regular agenda 4/18/22. F. ADJOURNMENT The Chair announced the adjournment of Committee of the Whole at 7:28 p.m. City of Gahanna Page 4 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes March 28, 2022 Jeremy VanMeter Clerk of Council APPROVED by the Committee of the Whole, this day of 2022. Merisa K. Bowers City of Gahanna Page 5